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The 2014 season brings with it some of the biggest changes to Formula One racing’s regulations for quite some time…

Technical Regulations:

Power: Naturally aspirated 2.4-litre V8 engines are out and 1.6-litre V6 turbo engines are in. While the old V8s produced more than 750bhp, the 2014 V6 engines rev to a maximum of 15,000rpm producing around 600bhp with additional power coming from Energy Recovery Systems.

Energy Recovery Systems (ERS): From 2014, a larger proportion of each car’s power comes from ERS which, together with the engine, makes up the powertrain or power unit. As well as generating energy under braking, ERS units also generate power using waste heat from the engine’s turbocharger. Unlike the previous KERS - which gave drivers an extra 80bhp for just over six seconds per lap - the 2014 ERS gives drivers around 160bhp for approximately 33 seconds per lap. To compensate for the extra power being generated under braking by ERS, teams are allowed to use an electronic rear brake control system.

Gearbox: Gearboxes will have eight forward ratios rather than the previous seven. Teams will no longer be able to change their gear ratios from race to race to suit the individual demands of a circuit. Instead, they must nominate eight gear ratios ahead of the first race of the season, and these eight ratios will be used at every Grand Prix. They will be given one opportunity to change their ratios once the season has started, but any subsequent changes will incur a grid penalty.

Fuel: To promote fuel efficiency, from 2014 fuel is limited to 100kg per race. Previously fuel was unlimited, but teams typically used around 160kg per race. Drivers must be able to return to the pits under their own power after the chequered flag has fallen in a bid to stop drivers from pulling over in order to preserve the mandatory one-litre fuel sample required to pass post-race scrutineering.

Minimum Weight: To compensate for the increased weight of the 2014 powertrain, minimum weight has been increased from the current 642kg to 690kg.

Exhaust: Unlike previously where two exhaust tailpipes were used, the 2014 regulations mandate the use of a single tailpipe which must be angled upwards to prevent the exhaust flow being used for aerodynamic effect. Earlier exhaust pipes would be angled downwards to face the rear diffuser so that the exhaust gasses passing over the rear diffuser would improve the car's downforce,. Now this has become extremely difficult to achieve. As no bodywork is allowed to be placed behind the tailpipe.

Nose Height: The height of noses has been reduced for 2014 in the interests of safety. The tip of the nose will have to be no more than 185mm above the ground, in comparison to the 550mm allowed in 2012. These regulations were amended in June 2013 so as to completely outlaw the use of the "stepped noses" used in 2012 and 2013, thereby forcing teams to design a car with a genuinely lower nose rather than using the temporary solution.

Front Wing: Front wings will be a little narrower from 2014 with the width reduced from 1800mm to 1650mm.

Rear Wing: The rear wing also looks a little different for 2014. The previously-legal lower beam wing has been outlawed and the main flap has become slightly shallower in profile. Support pillars, however, are allowed. The DRS slot is also bigger than in 2013.

Camera Mountings: The use of false camera mountings will be banned. Teams had previously exploited a loophole in the regulations that allowed them to add additional pieces of bodywork to the car in the place of camera mountings and take advantage of the aerodynamic benefits. From 2014, this loophole will be closed, with the regulations rewritten to only allow camera mountings to be used for cameras.

Sporting Regulations:

Testing: Mid-season testing will return in 2014, but in a restricted format with the regulations allowing four tests of no more than two consecutive days, four European venues will each host a two day test in the week following the Grand Prix held at the circuit. In addition to this, teams must dedicate one of these days to aiding tyre supplier Pirelli in the development of their tyres. These rules were later adjusted to allow teams to choose which venues they tested at during the season. Cars will also be classified as "current", "previous" and "historic", with the FIA introducing limits on which cars may be used and the conditions under which they are tested. The end-of-season Young Driver Tests, which were held to give teams the opportunity to assess rookie drivers, will be discontinued. There are also increased restrictions on windtunnel testing and CFD simulations.

Points: Double Driver’s and Constructor’s points will be awarded at the final race of the Formula One Season Abu Dhabi for 2014, in order to maximise focus on the championship until the very end of the campaign.

Driver Numbers: Drivers will be asked to choose their race number, between 2 and 99, for the duration of their career in the FIA Formula One World Championship. Number 1 will be reserved for the current world champion, should he choose to use it. If more than one driver chooses the same number, priority will be given to the driver who finished highest in the previous year’s championship. The driver number must be clearly visible on the front of the car and on the driver's crash helmet.

Additional Friday Practice Drivers: We are used to seeing teams replace one of their race drivers with a test driver for opening practice on a Friday. However, from 2014 teams will be able to run up to four drivers, though still only two cars in either Friday session.

New Penalties: Race Stewards will have the power to hand out five-second penalties in addition to the existing range of penalties within their power. The five-second penalties were introduced for situations where a penalty was justified, but the existing penalties such as a drive-through or a stop/go penalty were considered too severe, or where such a penalty would radically alter the outcome of a race if applied retroactively, with penalised drivers facing the loss of championship points for otherwise minor violations of the rules. Drivers will be permitted to serve these penalties before a regular pit stop, with the driver stopping in their pit bay for five seconds before any work is carried out on the car. Drivers serving drive-through or stop/go penalties will not be permitted to serve a penalty ahead of their pit stop, and will instead be required to enter the pit lane separately to serve the penalty. Additionally, any driver who earns 12 penalty points on their superlicence during a 12-month period will be given a one-race ban.

Pit Lane Safety:The pit lane speed limit will be reduced from 100 km/h (62 mph) to 80 km/h (50 mph). Also the rules regarding unsafe pit releases, when a car is released from its pit bay to the lane directly into the path of an oncoming car, will be rewritten. The driver who is released in an unsafe fashion would be given a grid penalty for the next race.

Engine Quota & Penalties: Drivers will only be able to use five engines over the course of a season in 2014, down from eight in 2013. Drivers who use a sixth engine will start the race from the pit lane, as opposed to the ten-place grid penalty handed down for going over the engine quota in previous season. The engine unit will be further divided up into individual elements, including the turbocharger, ERS unit and KERS battery, with drivers allocated five of each component. Should a driver go over this quota for any individual element, they will incur a ten place grid penalty. They will receive a further five-place penalty for going over the five-unit allocation of any other element after the original ten place penalty is applied in a bid to stop teams changing multiple elements of the engine unit after receiving a grid penalty. In the event that such a penalty relegates a driver past the back row of the grid, the remaining penalty will carry over to the next race. For example, if a driver qualifies in nineteenth position and receives a five-place grid penalty, they will drop to twenty-second and last place for that race, and then receive an additional two-place penalty in the next Grand Prix. These penalties can only be carried over to the next race, rather than accumulate.

Pole Trophy: The FIA will introduce the "Pole Trophy", a non-championship award presented to the driver who scores the most pole positions during the season. In the event of a tie, the trophy will be awarded to the driver who holds the greatest number of second places. If there is still a tie, the greatest number of third places will be taken into account and so on until a winner emerges.

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One should never read too much into testing times, especially when that test was effectively an extended shake-down as the Jerez session was for most, but that doesn’t mean they don't make for interesting reading. Kevin Magnussen will no doubt be more than happy to leave Spain with the quickest overall time after his debut as a McLaren race driver.

Even more interesting, however, in the context of the 2014 regulation changes is which teams completed the most mileage and with which power unit…

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Where the opening pre-season test in Spain was effectively an extended shake-down, the session in Bahrain allowed at least some of the teams to start discovering the true performance of their 2014 machines.

Mercede’s Nico Rosberg topped the overall times, but which teams completed the most mileage - and with which power unit?

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In terms of pace it was Williams and Mercedes who finished winter testing on a high, with the former’s Felipe Massa clocking the fastest time of the second and final Bahrain session. Factor in the first Sakhir test and the Jerez opener to see who’s accrued the most mileage pre-season and again it’s Mercedes and Williams leading the way!!!!

Unofficial aggregate test times from second Bahrain test:

1. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1m 33.258s, 202 laps

2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m 33.278s, 159 laps

3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1m 33.484s, 192 laps

4. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1m 33.987s, 236 laps

5. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1m 34.280s, 196 laps

6. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1m 35.290s, 213 laps

7. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1m 35.426s, 141 laps

8. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1m 35.577s, 189 laps

9. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1m 35.701s, 135 laps

10. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1m 35.743s, 105 laps

11. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren, 1m 35.894s, 197 laps

12. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1m 36.113s, 137 laps

13. Adrian Sutil, Sauber, 1m 36.467s, 181 laps

14. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1m 36.835s, 105 laps

15. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1m 36.901s, 74 laps

16. Jules Bianchi, Marussia, 1m 37.087s, 153 laps

17. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber, 1m 37.303s, 192 laps

18. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1m 37.468s, 77 laps

19. Marcus Ericsson, Caterham, 1m 38.083s, 172 laps

20. Kamui Kobayashi, Caterham, 1m 38.391s, 125 laps

21. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1m 39.302s, 65 laps

22. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1m 40.599s, 62 laps

Total laps in second Bahrain test - by team (power unit, where different):

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The final pre-season test in Bahrain gave the teams four last days in which to hone their machines ahead of the opening round of the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship in Australia.

Once again, Mercedes-powered cars dominated both the timesheets and the mileage charts, but there were plenty more talking points to emerge from a fascinating session in Sakhir…

Mercedes and Williams looking strong!!

Two teams dominated the aggregate test times from the second Bahrain test - Mercedes and Williams. Felipe Massa recorded the fastest lap in Sakhir this winter, but Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were only a fraction away from the Brazilian’s headline time, with Valtteri Bottas just behind.

Neither team has been immune to problems - indeed, Mercedes seemed to pick up more and more niggles as the test went along, perhaps as a result of running so many laps. However, both appear to have been able to diagnose and solve issues quicker than others.

It has to be said that while many expected Mercedes to be at (or very near) the front in terms of pace, Williams’ form has been more surprising, particularly as the team are coming off one of their worst ever seasons. Of course, having the front running Mercedes power unit has helped their cause, but the Grove-based squad must be congratulated on producing a car that is seemingly not only fast, but also more reliable than most. Williams completed 936 laps during pre-season testing and the FW36 only stopped out on track once - and that was a high mileage failure in the internal combustion engine on the final afternoon of running.

Perhaps understandably, both Williams and Mercedes have played down their form somewhat (Hamilton preferred to focus on how quick Red Bull’s RB10 could be once they get on top of their problems), but Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali was less hesitant in his appraisal, saying: “From what we have seen so far, there are two teams out in front: Mercedes and Williams. After them, it could be us.”

Ferrari not quite where they want to be.

Speaking of Ferrari, the Italian team have been ‘there or thereabouts’ throughout the entire pre-season, and it was the same at the final test. They don’t look to have the pace of the leading Mercedes-powered cars, but the Scuderia are convinced that there is a lot of potential that still needs to be unlocked from the F14 T, and in particular from its power unit.

"I think the most important thing to understand on our side is how to manage the balance between electrical power, the ERS, the battery, all these things have an effect in terms of horsepower," said Domenicali.

Fernando Alonso, who along with team mate Kimi Raikkonen lost a fair chunk of track time in pre-season because of technical issues, agreed with his team principal’s assessment:

“There are a lot of things to learn with the use of the power unit to improve the performance of the car and we are not yet where we want to be.

“Everyone in the team is very competitive and we are working day and night in order to get all the potential out of the F14 T as soon as possible.”

Force India looking like the dark horses!

Force India didn’t achieve the same outright pace as Williams, Mercedes or even Ferrari in Bahrain, but after early teething troubles with the Mercedes-powered VJM07 in Jerez, they looked swift and -more importantly - reliable in Sakhir. The team completed three successive days of 100-plus laps to begin the final test, and that bodes well heading to Australia, as does the fact that both Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg were able to conduct important set-up work and race simulations.

“Our time in Bahrain has gone largely to plan with the mileage achieved leaving us in good shape going into Melbourne,” said Andrew Green, Force India’s technical director.

“We’re feeling positive about our reliability and have explored some encouraging directions for improving car performance. The other focus has been on our race readiness and we’ve done a great deal of homework to prepare the drivers for the challenge that awaits them in Melbourne."

Red Bull making progress but not quickly enough.

Red Bull might have managed 77 laps on the final day in Bahrain - their best tally of pre-season - but that doesn’t make up for the fact that on several days they barely turned a wheel. The world champions’ tally of 320 laps this winter was bettered by every team bar Marussia and Lotus (who missed the first test in Jerez entirely).

Many will point the finger at power unit suppliers Renault, but Red Bull must take some of the blame. The RB10 may be an inherently quick machine, but Christian Horner’s team simply haven’t been able to get it working for long enough to prove it. Whilst their rivals have completed numerous race simulations, Red Bull’s runs have mainly been on the short side, with regular pit stops to check everything is okay (particularly at the rear of the car where overheating has been a problem). All of this makes a strong showing in Melbourne - and even a race finish - improbable (though not impossible).

But for all their troubles, it mustn’t be forgotten that Red Bull are quadruple world champions for a reason and therefore it’s inconceivable that they’ll be in their current predicament for too much longer. As for the team themselves, they remain optimistic.

“Obviously we have had a lot of problems during testing, but we understand the problems and hope to have fixes in place for Australia,” said Red Bull’s race engineering co-ordinator Andy Damerum.

“We know the pace is in the car, as we saw from Daniel's performance here; what we have to do now is put all the pieces together and establish reliability for the race in Melbourne. There is plenty of motivation in the team and we'll keep working hard over the next two weeks."

Lotus well behind the curve.

If Red Bull’s test period was bleak, Lotus’s wasn’t any rosier. After missing the first session of the year in Jerez, the Enstone team needed the remaining two tests to run smoothly, but after a successful shakedown of the twin prong-nosed E22, things went downhill rapidly in Bahrain.

Clearly they are having issues with the Renault power unit and its installation and even if the problems can be fixed before Australia, Lotus will head to Melbourne significantly under-prepared, and not just from a car point of view, but from a driver point of view too.

“We’ve ended our pre-season test programme with a lot of unknowns and a full workload for the days ahead,” said Alan Permane, Lotus’s trackside operations director, after Sunday’s final test running. “We’re all focused, both at Enstone and in Viry, on analysing all the data we have gained to make as much improvement as we can before we get to Australia for the first race of the season. Today we put some more mileage on the E22, but once again we stopped early, which is obviously not what we wanted. There will be some long days and nights before the first race but we are determined to make as much progress as possible.”

No one knows what to expect in Australia!

Trying to get anyone in Bahrain to commit to a prediction for the season’s first race in Melbourne was like trying to get blood out of a stone. All anyone could agree on was that it is going to be highly unpredictable and reliability is likely to be the defining factor.

All we know is that it’s going to be an unmissable event. Keep up to date with all the action from Australia on Formula1.com from March 13-16.

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Thanks for starting this thread Shashank.. The season begins in a week from now and we can use this thread to discuss races over the season. Mercedes and Williams look strong for Albert Park but Im counting on the Ferrari boys to do some magic.

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Thanks for starting this thread Shashank.. The season begins in a week from now and we can use this thread to discuss races over the season. Mercedes and Williams look strong for Albert Park but Im counting on the Ferrari boys to do some magic.

Welcome PrancingHorse, i've loved Formula 1 since i was a kid and it would be great fun to have discussions here after practice, qualifying sessions and on race days!! Eagerly looking forward to it...

Yes the Mercedes and Williams do look strong, but i am expecting some huge developments from the Force India boys. I reckon they have what it needs to go head to head with the big boys!

Ferrari has always been my favourite!! I just hope the 'Deadly Duo' takes the team to the top of the charts!

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India’s return to Formula 1 will have to wait until at least 2016, by which time a new race in Azerbaijan (Iran) could also be on the calendar, commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on Wednesday.

The 83-year-old Briton dampened Indian hopes of the Buddh International Circuit near New Delhi hosting a race again next year after being dropped from the 2014 championship. “At the moment, India won’t be on for next year for sure,” said Ecclestone. “Probably 2016… they’re gradually getting over all the bureaucracy with the tax position inside the country and the general finance,” he added.

Ecclestone said in November that a deal had been done for the Indian Grand Prix to return in 2015 and for six years beyond that if tax problems with the country’s authorities could be overcome.

Problems over taxation, with Formula 1 classified as entertainment rather than a sport in India, as well as the considerable bureaucracy to be overcome in bringing equipment into the country have been seen as obstacles to the race returning.

Former Indian motorsports body chief Vicky Chandhok, who helped the Jaypee Group get Formula 1 to India, says the chances of the race returning to the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida are unlikely, unless the government liberalises its policies.

Chandhok obviously was referring to the stakeholders’ demand that the teams get tax relief and hassle-free import of vehicles and equipment into the country. “After what all has happened recently, it will be very tough for India to get the race back. The sport raised the country’s profile around the world, but unfortunately the Indian government does not see it as a sport to help the stakeholders cross the hurdles,” Chandhok said.Chandhok was president of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) in 2007 when a provisional agreement was signed between the Formula One Management (FOM) and race promoters Jaypee Group before he returned to head the body again in 2010.

The inaugural Indian Grand Prix eventually took place in 2011 and after three fairly successful editions, suddenly insurmountable glitches surfaced, putting the future of the race in jeopardy. The reason for that is that the stakeholders (especially FOM and teams) are not happy with the country’s taxation policies and bureaucratic redtape. What makes matters worse is that motorsports is not considered as a sport in India even when the country’s parent Olympic body, International Olympic Committee (IOC), recognises the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

“Just to give an example on how taxation policy is a major hindrance: The Indian government expects the teams to share their sponsorship contracts with them and based on that the authorities will tax them. The teams are not required to do that anywhere else in the world and more so they are not at all comfortable sharing their sponsorship agreements. This is one of the many ticklish issues,” said Chandhok.

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As was generally presumed to be the case the second the Indian Grand Prix dropped off the provisional 2014 calendar, the one-year hiatus now looks like becoming indefinite. Bernie Ecclestone said as much last week, when the F1 boss pointed to the on-going difficulties with the Indian tax authorities as a key cause of the race's disappearance.

With no alternation plans for the Greater Noida event, F1 insiders know that a rest is as good as a termination: with other countries (still!) queuing up to pay our oh-so-reasonable hosting fees there is no reason for a financially beleaguered event to return to the calendar after a break, no matter how brief.

Which is why the blame game has started.

Ecclestone points to India's central government, and the bizarre decision to class Formula One as a form of entertainment, and not a sport.

Narain Karthikeyan, the man who made history as India's first F1 driver, also blames the Indian government, although as far as the ex-HRT man is concerned, taxation was only part of the problem. Speaking to reporters at a promotional event over the weekend, Karthikeyan also blamed the local authorities for poor promotion.

"F1 is an elitist sport," he said. "But it has a huge fan following in India, especially in states like Kerala. But the fans need to be educated more about this sport so that they can enjoy it in the right spirit. But sadly I have not seen any effort from the authorities to popularize it."

With the greatest of respect, Karthikeyan is wrong. While the tax issues are certainly the responsibility of the local government, when it comes to promoting races in countries where Formula One does not have a dedicated grassroots following, it is the sport that has failed to adequately promote itself.

India is but one example, we can also add Korea, China, and Turkey to the recent list of 'could do betters'. Instead, we tend to confine promotional activity to a short period surrounding the race, while ignoring the benefits of a sustained campaign.

It is not enough to arrive with a flourish, dominate headlines for five days, and then disappear. Instead, teams should be working with local media outlets to drip feed F1 stories over a period of months, building a knowledge base while stimulating interest. Promotional events should then reach a crescendo in the lead-up to a grand prix, adding to the excitement of a race coming to town.

Red Bulls do a decent job with their show car team, demonstrating the capabilities of a Formula One car in unusual environments, but it is not enough. They are but one team of a list of eleven, and the bulk of their rivals confine promotional activities to meet and greets and local landmarks in the days immediately preceding a race.

Speaking last year about the loss of the Indian Grand Prix, Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn nailed it when it came to Formula One and opportunities lost. "I think it is very difficult once when you leave a country to come back to it - especially where we have not really managed to establish the sport," she said. "We have not been able to market ourselves properly in [india]. We have not been able to convince that many Indian companies. You can count the Indian companies that are in F1 on one hand. We've somewhere collectively failed to do more."

To fail in one of the world's largest emerging markets is a particularly black spot in F1's track record of sustained promotion. We like to think that our host countries need us more than we need them. We are wrong. And until Formula One stops playing a collective game of ostrich, burying our heads in self-important sand, the mistakes made in India (in Turkey, in South Korea…) will be repeated in Sochi, Baku, and wherever else we decide to build the white elephants of the future.

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The first real shots in the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship were finally fired as the first and second free practice sessions of the season was held in Albert Park this afternoon.

I watched it on Star Sports HD2 and it was so happy!!

Alonso was fastest in FP1 and Hamilton was fastest in FP2.

Vettle seemed to be struggling with pace as the Red Bull wasn't quick enough (not saying that it was slow either)!

Kimi i feel could've matched Alonso's pace.. But just didn't!!

Force India.. Hmmm, didn't live up to my expectations!!

For this year, my current favourite for the Championship Title would be Lewis Hamilton!

So as a spectator (viewer) what was new this season..? Well, quiet a lot of stuff actually.

As a viewer i found the engine roar a bit awkward!! And then there was always that turbo whistling almost all the time. With my eyes closed, i felt as if this wasn't F1, some other motorsport, but definately not F1.

That is how much i was used to the noise of the loud V8s!!

And the brakes!! Oh they smoked.. Like hell!!! A lot of smoke was emitted from the brake pads of Hamilton's and Hulkenberg's cars.

And finally that weird finger like thing sticking out of almost every car!! Looks weird!! VERY WEIRD!!

Here is all the action from FP1 and FP2:

FP1

Alonso fastest as Hamilton hits trouble in Australia!

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso emerged fastest with a lap of 1m 31.840s, 0.517s ahead of Jenson Button on 1m 32.357s for McLaren and the Williams duo of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa on 1m 32.403s and 1m 32.431s respectively. The Finn pipped the Brazilian for third right at the end.

Alonso had been the first out when the track opened, but it was pre-race favourite Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes which had the dubious honour of being the first car to stop. After 12 minutes, the 2008 champion rolled to a smoky halt at Turn 9 before he had set a time.

Despite fears over reliability, the Mercedes was the only car to stop on track, but neither the Caterhams nor the Lotuses recorded times, and nor did Jules Bianchi’s Marussia.

Daniel Ricciardo was the first driver to set a time, with 1m 37.290s after 12m 45.44s of the session, and the Australian kept his Red Bull ahead of Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren until Alonso and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg started swapping fastest times. Button later got in on the act too, deposing Alonso until the Ferrari driver found half a second to settle the issue.

In an encouraging session for Red Bull, Ricciardo was fifth on 1m 32.599s with Rosberg, another pre-event favourite, only sixth on 1m 32.604s ahead of Sebastian Vettel on 1m 32.793s. The world champion did not run more than an out lap during the first hour, but did two stints in the last 30 minutes.

Magnussen’s first session as an F1 driver yielded a respectable eighth place on 1m 32.847s with Kimi Raikkonen ninth in the second Ferrari on 1m 32.977s. Jean-Eric Vergne completed the top 10 for Toro Rosso on 1m 33.446s.

Like Massa, Raikkonen and team mate Daniil Kvyat, the Frenchman had an off-track moment though nobody did any damage. As usual, Turn 1 was the popular place for such indiscretions.

Nico Hulkenberg was 11th for Force India on 1m 33.533s ahead of team mate Sergio Perez on 1m 33.855s, the Mexican being the only driver actually to spin.

Kvyat was 13th on 1m 34.272s, ahead of the Saubers of Esteban Gutierrez and Adrian Sutil on 1m 35.578s and 1m 36.445s respectively. Max Chilton was the last driver to set a time, albeit a slow 1m 46.922s. Later the Englishman locked up and tapped a trolly in front of his garage as he came into the pits, without causing much damage.

Pastor Maldonado did get out in his Lotus, with 10 minutes left, but had a wild ride which included smoke emanating from the cockpit and an off which narrowly avoided a wall, before he rolled back into the pit lane.

It was a curiously calm session, with plenty of intervals when nobody was running, and though it got the season off to an official start it remained inconclusive. The second session this afternoon may paint a clearer picture.

FP2

Hamilton leads Mercedes one-two in Melbourne.

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes made up for their disappointment in FP1 to set the fastest lap of 1m 29.625s in FP2 in Albert Park this afternoon, with team mate Nico Rosberg backing him with 1m 29.782s, just 0.157s adrift.

Fernando Alonso, fastest in FP1, was third for Ferrari with 1m 30.132s, 0.507s off Hamilton, while Sebastian Vettel was an encouraging fourth for Red Bull on 1m 30.381s, 0.756s down on the leading Mercedes.

There was further encouragement, too, for McLaren as Jenson Button was fifth on 1m 30.510s ahead of Ricciardo’s 1m 30. 538s, Kimi Raikkonen on 1m 30.898s in the second Ferrari and Bottas on 1m 30.920s.

Rookie Kevin Magnussen was ninth in the other McLaren with 1m 31.031s, as Hulkenberg completed the top 10 with 1m 31.054s ahead of Vergne on 1m 31.060s and Massa on 1m 31.119s. Sergio Perez was 13th in the second Force India on 1m 31.283s, with Sutil next up on 1m 32.355s from Sauber team mate Esteban Gutierrez on 1m 32.468s and Daniil Kvyat in the second Toro Rosso on 1m 32.495s.

Marussia got both their cars going, Jules Bianchi setting an encouraging 1m 33.486s to head Romain Grosjean’s Lotus on 1m 33.646s and team mate Max Chilton on 1m 34.757s.

Pastor Maldonado’s Lotus stayed in the garage this time as power unit parts were changed, as did both Caterhams. Marcus Ericsson still had battery problems, while Kamui Kobayashi’s car required a change of its Renault powertrain after its problems this morning. None of the three set a time.

The session provided teams with the chance to sample both Pirelli compounds and to do some race running, but was not without incident. Vergne went off at Turn 3; Vettel in Turn 1; Grosjean in Turn 7 before later going off in Turn 6 and walloping the wall hard enough to derange the left rear suspension; Kvyat at Turn 1; and Hulkenberg spun off in Turn 10 right at the end after putting his left-hand rear wheel on the grass. There was also a bit of an on-track disagreement between Vettel and Gutierrez which resulted in the Mexican running wide going through Turn 2.

What was impressive was that, apart from the troubles suffered by Caterham and Lotus, only Raikkonen had a real problem when his F14 T stopped momentarily at the end of the pit lane before being resuscitated. Otherwise the new breed of F1 cars was much more reliable than had been expected, and the general feeling is that most teams now have a good basis on which to work for qualifying.

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Nico Rosberg rammed home an uncomfortable truth for Mercedes' rivals in this afternoon's final free practice session in Albert Park, when he lapped his F1 W05 1.391s faster than Jenson Button's McLaren.

Lewis Hamilton had set the pace for Mercedes while teams were running the medium compound Pirelli, but as he made mistakes on his laps on the soft tyre, Rosberg kept his cool and jumped to the top with 1m 29.375s. As Hamilton failed to improve on his medium-tyre time of 1m 30.919s and thus finished fourth, Button jumped up to second on 1m 30.766s chased by Fernando Alonso's Ferrari on 1m 30.876s.

Daniel Ricciardo got beneath 1m 31s, with 1m 30.970s for Red Bull, which left them 1.595s off Mercedes' pace, but as the home favourite made the most of what he had, team mate Sebastian Vettel was in a world of hurt down in 12th place on 1m 32.255s after sliding all over the place on his soft-tyre run. He complained later that his car wasn't accelerating properly too.

Between the two RB10 pilots, Nico Hulkenberg jumped up to sixth late on with 1m 30.978s for Force India, displacing Kimi Raikkonen on 1m 31.156s for Ferrari and Kevin Magnussen on 1m 31.251s in the other McLaren. Sergio Perez had a couple of offs in the other Force India on his way to 1m 31.665s which left him ahead of a disappointed Felipe Massa on 1m 31.723s. The Brazilian failed to improve that time, which was set on the medium tyre and had been third fastest behind the Mercedes in comparable conditions, when he switched his Williams to softs. But at least he ran; team mate Valtteri Bottas didn't record a time after spending the session with his FW36 in the garage having its gearbox changed.

Daniil Kvyat added to Vettel's pain by slipping ahead of him with 1m 31.925s for Toro Rosso, while team mate Jean-Eric Vergne was right behind the champion on 1m 32.417s in the sister STR9.

Marussia were chuffed with Jules Bianchi's 14th best time of 1m 34.184s, which put the Frenchman ahead of troubled Adrian Sutil who said his Sauber was all over the place as he struggled to 1m 34.188s.

It was a vastly better day for Caterham and Kamui Kobayashi wound up his CT05 for the first time to take a promising 16th on 1m 34.413s, only three tenths off Bianchi. Behind the Japanese driver Max Chilton took his Marussia round in 1m 34.717s for 17th from Pastor Maldonado's Lotus on 1m 34.754s and Marcus Ericsson who worked down to 1m 36.159s in his Caterham.

Besides Bottas, Esteban Gutierrez didn't set a time after running into gearbox problems at the start of the session in his Sauber. Romain Grosjean was also in the wars, getting increasingly vexed by an ongoing misfire. With Maldonado stopping the other E22 right at the end, Lotus's woes continued.

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Lewis Hamilton took pole position from Daniel Ricciardo in a nail-biting qualifying session at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Wet weather threw the pre-season form guide out the window, but Hamilton just managed to clinch pole from the resurgent Red Bull. But while Ricciardo shone in front of his home crowd, team-mate and four-time champion Sebastian Vettel will start from 13th after failing to make through to Q3 for the first time since 2012 (after 27 races). Ricciardo beat Nico Rosberg to the front row by 0.047s as the Red Bull driver gambled on intermediate tyres for his final run while the Mercedes duo played it safe on full wets.

Kevin Magnussen will start fourth in the McLaren, ahead of Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari, who looked strong in the earlier sessions of qualifying but faded in Q3. Jean-Eric Vergne underlined Renault's return to form with the sixth fastest time in the Toro Rosso, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India, Daniil Kvyat in the second Toro Rosso and the two Williams of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Bottas will drop five places on the grid due to an unscheduled gearbox change between FP3 and qualifying, meaning he will start 15th.

Kimi Raikkonen caused havoc at the end of Q2 as he crashed his Ferrari on a drying track coming out of Turn 3. That meant several other drivers, including Vettel and Jenson Button missed the cut as they backed off while passing the scene of the accident. Button was just over a tenth off Kvyat's Q2 time inside the top ten and Vettel was three tenths shy, meaning he will start 12th on Sunday's grid. Adrian Sutil will line up 13th ahead of an impressive effort by Kamui Kobayshi in the Caterham in 14th. Sergio Perez starts 16th and was the only driver knocked out in Q2 not to benefit from Bottas' grid penalty.

Rain arrived midway through Q1 meaning the drivers had only a couple of shots at setting a time worthy of making Q2. Max Chilton's Marussia missed the cut by 0.019s and he was joined in the drop zone by team-mate Jules Bianchi. After a gearbox change following FP3, Esteban Gutierrez will start dead last due to a five-place grid penalty. That promoted Marcus Ericsson to 19th on the grid for his F1 debut in the Caterham, ahead of the two Lotuses. Pastor Maldonado failed to set a time, leaving his inclusion in the race at the discretion of the stewards under the 107% rule. However, he set a time in FP3 that would have been enough had he repeated it in qualifying and therefore he should make the grid on Sunday.

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Nico Rosberg grabbed the lead at the start in Australia on Sunday and was never really challenged as he and Mercedes ushered in Formula One racing’s new 1.6-litre turbo engine era with a dominant 24.5s victory over local hero Daniel Ricciardo.

The Red Bull driver made the most of the team’s extraordinary turnaround to become the first Australian to finish on the podium at home. He was kept honest throughout after a hugely impressive drive from Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen, who led McLaren team mate Jenson Button home after some great strategic work from the team helped the Englishman to recover from his 10th place start.

The race began with drama when the first start had to be aborted as Jules Bianchi’s Marussia stalled at the start. Moments earlier team mate Max Chilton’s sister car had also stalled on the grid formation lap, so the two Banbury-built machines joined Romain Grosjean’s Lotus in starting from the pit lane. The race was thus shortened by a lap.

Polesitter Lewis Hamilton was very slow away in his Mercedes and immediately lost places to Rosberg and Ricciardo, and by lap three it was over for the Englishman as he brought his F1 W05 into the pits to retire. It was subsequently revealed that his engine was misfiring on one cylinder - an explanation for his tardy getaway.

The other drama at the start involved Kamui Kobayashi, who made what seemed to be a great start as he pulled alongside Valtteri Bottas’s Williams. Unfortunately the Caterham driver then got his braking wrong, locked up and made contact with Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari before clobbering the innocent Felipe Massa’s Williams as they headed into Turn One. Both Kobayashi and Massa were instant retirements, whilst the Japanese driver - who accepted responsibility for the incident - was summoned to see the stewards.

Bottas was the man on the move, passing fellow countryman Raikkonen in a bold move round the outside on the eighth lap. But Williams’ chance of better than his eventual sixth place was compromised when he slid wide and hit the outside wall coming out of Turn 10, damaging his right rear tyre. He was able to pit to have it replaced, but the safety car was deployed on the 12th lap as a chunk of the FW36’s wheel rim had to be removed from the track.

McLaren acted very quickly to call Button in, and he was able to jump from ninth place to sixth.

When the race resumed on the 16th lap, Rosberg pulled away again and was able to control things easily from the front with few worries about fuel conservation. His one problem was some front tyre graining in his middle stint, but by staying out he was able to drive through that and keep up the momentum.

Ricciardo looked a comfortable second for much of the race, but towards the end the super-impressive Magnussen kept pushing after him as he alternately pushed then re-harvested energy before pushing again. In the end he didn’t quite have the pace to get closer than 2.2s by the flag, but he was delighted to be the first Dane ever to grace an F1 podium – and to score one immediately for a team that didn’t get close to one in 2013. He scored 15 points on a debut that mirrored Lewis Hamilton’s star turn for McLaren at the same track back in 2007.

Button moved into fourth place after another clever bit of pit work on lap 32 which put him ahead of Hulkenberg and Alonso. He closed in on his team mate for a while, but ultimately finished another 3.2s down. Their combined performance, however, puts McLaren at the head of the constructors’ points table with 27 points to Mercedes’ 25 as the team bounced back on the MP4-29’s debut.

Alonso got the jump on Hulkenberg in their final stops, and as he struggled a little the German lost sixth place to the flying Bottas in the closing laps. The Finn was another of the race’s stars, his speed leaving the revitalised Williams team to ponder what might have been without that wall-brushing incident, let alone if Massa had gone unmolested.

Raikkonen had a disappointing race, losing a place to Bottas after going too deep into a corner and sliding into the dirt. Behind him, Vergne was disappointed that his Toro Rosso lost pace in the closing stages which enabled the Finn to slip by, while team mate Kvyat drove superbly confidently on his debut to join the elite who have scored a point first time out. At 19, the Russian rookie also became the youngest points-scorer in F1 history.

Sergio Perez was a distant 11th after early delays hampered his run for Force India, while Adrian Sutil fended off Sauber team mate Esteban Gutierrez to take 12th. After their initial dramas, Marussia saw both their cars come home, Chilton finishing in 14th ahead of the delayed (and unclassified) Bianchi.

Besides Hamilton, the other high profile retirement was that of world champion Sebastian Vettel, who complained on the grid formation lap that his Red Bull was down on power and who retired after five laps. Marcus Ericsson ran as high as 11th early on but was one of those who lost out most under the safety car and was hauled in by rivals who were delayed in the first corner melee; he was instructed to switch off his Caterham’s Renault motor as it lost oil pressure. The Lotus duo had tough races; Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado both ran hard in the early going, but had to stop with further mechanical issues with the MGU-K units on their E22s.

Though a high rate of attrition was expected, 15 of the 22 starters were running at the finish - a testament to the excellence of F1 engineering and a hugely positive start to the new era.